Wind-up Toy
by Connor the speling pro
Summary: It's been two years since Ness and his friends defeated Giygas, but Ness is still struggling to find his purpose in life. Can he find a stable footing in this world as a young adult? Minor spoilers for Earthbound.


**Hey, everyone. It's been a while since I've posted something other than Time Distorter, so I thought that I'd share this with you guys. For those of you who don't know me (which is probably most of you haha), I write a lot of this Earthbound fanfiction stuff. I really don't have a life. D:**

 **Well, I hope that everyone's having a nice holiday season! Christmas is just in a week. I'm at the age where it's not super exciting, though... D: It will be nice to have some time to get more writing done, though. I want to say that I'll enjoy seeing more of my family, but we're already close enough that this doesn't really feel any different haha.**

 **Anyways, my one shots like this one generally... aren't the best. xD I want to say that they're not good compared to my longer stories, but those have problems as well. ._. I have plenty of time to improve, though. Also, I don't necessarily agree with any of the ideas/opinions that my characters have, so if you have to bash on those opinions please say that the _characters_ are dumb and wrong. :)**

 **But I should really shut up and just post the story. If you like it, reviews are greatly appreciated. If you hate it, reviews are still appreciated (I'll be impressed if you hate this and still have the willpower to finish reading** ** _and_** **write a review for this :P). I like getting emails from this site telling me that someone wrote a review. Nothing else gives me happiness in this cruel world...**

 **Just kidding ;)**

* * *

"I swear," Ness said. "If this is another one of your _proposals,_ Mayor Pirkle…"

"Oh, please," B. H. Pirkle said with a businesslike smile, motioning for Ness to take a seat on the other side of his mahogany desk. "Don't you think that I learned my lesson about that a long time ago?"

"Honestly, no," Ness answered, pretending to ignore the chair in front of him. He could stand up and talk just fine, thank you very much.

"Such scorn in your words," Pirkle said, shaking his head and picking up a wind-up toy on his desk. "I am not a fool, Ness. While I _do_ wish for you to endorse me in exchange for a few small... _favors,_ shall we say…?"

"That's called corruption," Ness said, leaning forward and slamming his palms on the table. "I could have you removed from office for just saying that."

"And do you think that the person who replaces me will be any different?" Pirkle asked with a nervous smile. "Every politician wants one of the chosen heroes who defeated Giygas to back them up."

Pirkle started winding up the toy that he held in his hands. Ness took a closer look at it, finding that it was just one of those cheap, plastic wind-up toys that looked out of place next to such an expensive desk. It depicted a young boy with a smile that looked just as artificial as Pirkle's, albeit more friendly and open. Ness pursed his lips, trying not to show further signs of annoyance.

"You politicians are all the same," Ness hissed, leaning closer.

"Perhaps," Pirkle said. "In that case, it doesn't really matter who you deal with, hmm?"

Ness let his glare dictate the response to that.

"Ah," Pirkle said, fidgeting further in his seat. "I _do_ understand how you want to act on your own behalf and not mine, as you are young and strong-willed. Like I said, I learned my lesson. I won't ask for you to support me in the upcoming election."

"Then what do you want?" Ness asked, standing up straight.

"Well, the thing is…" Pirkle continued to wind up the toy. "We've hit upon hard times. An economic recession sweeps across Eagleland, and people are starting to grow bitter. I think that an inspirational speech from the boy who defeated Giygas could cheer Onett right up."

 _I didn't really kill Giygas,_ Ness thought. _Paula dealt the finishing blows._

"You want to cheer people up so that they'll be happier when they head over to the voting machines next month," Ness said flatly. "That way, they're less likely to vote for the opponent out of spite."

"Yes," Pirkle said. "Isn't the job of politicians to make their constituents happy?"

Pirkle released the wind-up toy. The plastic hunk of garbage took mechanical steps forward, making an annoying whirring sound as it walked. Pirkle picked up the toy right before it was about to walk off the side of the table.

 _He's sending me a message,_ Ness thought. _He'll secretly lead his people into danger until he "saves" them before they walk off a cliff so that they'll hail him as a hero. To him, we're nothing more than wind-up toys to be controlled for his personal gain._

Was Ness reading too much into that?

"I'm not doing this for you, just like I'm not endorsing you," Ness said, turning around. "Good day, Mayor Pirkle."

"I'm not asking you to do this for me," Pirkle said. "Sure, you could care less about my agenda…"

 _Couldn't care less,_ Ness corrected in his mind.

"…But people out there are legitimately feeling down," Pirkle continued. "Don't you want to cheer them up?"

Ness scowled. Pirkle's grin widened.

"I don't want to work with you," Ness said, not bothering to turn back around.

"Well, like I said, the next guy who comes along probably won't be any different," Pirkle said with a shrug. "I won't try to force you to do anything, but are you really going to ignore all of the people out there just to spite me?"

 _I won't, and he knows that I won't,_ Ness thought. _He's controlling me like that wind-up toy._

"I'll think about it," Ness muttered.

"I hope that you do," Pirkle said. "I think that we could all use some of your charisma, Ness."

 _Oh, because I'm showing just how charismatic I can be right now,_ Ness thought sarcastically.

"…Goodbye," Ness said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Take as much time as you want," Pirkle said with a devious smile. "After all, it's on you to provide the people hope. You know how ineffective we politicians are at that."

Ness felt like he was suffocating in the atmosphere that Mayor Pirkle exerted. He couldn't stand the manipulation and veiled motives. Life was so much simpler when a quick glance could distinguish friend from foe. He still wished that he could go back to his adventure two years ago. Sure, he had often been injured and exhausted, but at least he _did_ something during that time.

 _I need some fresh air,_ Ness thought. _Gotta get away from here._

But Ness never could really escape politics, could he? No matter what, people would always see him as someone important. His PSI marked him for greatness.

Ness continued thinking along those lines as he made his way out of the town hall. Should he try to find some way to get rid of his PSI and turn back into a normal kid? Would that really cause people to treat him any differently? Even if it would, would it be morally acceptable to give up powers that could be used to protect? Maybe…

Ness' sister Tracy walked up to him, interrupting his thoughts. She had started wearing makeup recently to impress the boys at school (although she would never admit that was the reason why). Ness thought that the makeup looked too fake to really improve how she looked, but he wasn't about to tell _her_ that.

"Hey," Tracy said, her expression unreadable.

"What are you doing here?" Ness asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not even a hello for your dear sister?" Tracy asked. "As a matter of fact, I was waiting for you to finish your little meeting with the mayor."

"Uh… why?"

"Because I want to talk to you, stupid."

"But why do you want to talk to me?" Ness asked. "Don't you have friends?"

"You know," Tracy said. "We used to be really close, and _I_ wasn't the one who started acting distant over the past two years."

"…Sorry," Ness muttered. "I don't mean to be rude, Tracy. I really don't. I just…"

"You're just _different_ than I am," Tracy said. "You've gone on your fancy-pants adventure and saved the world, so you see life in a different way while I'm the same. Therefore, there's _obviously_ no way that we can become close again, hmm? Not while I'm _stupid_ and _ignorant_ and…"

Ness grimaced. Tracy's analysis was closer to the mark than Ness wanted to admit.

"I'm sorry for that," Ness said.

"I'm not judging you," Tracy replied. "I just… wish that we could play together again. We're still kids, you know."

 _I suppose that we are,_ Ness thought. _Why does that feel so strange to admit?_

"Well, we should probably head back home," Tracy said. "Mom said that you haven't eaten lunch yet."

Ness blinked. He had forgotten about that.

"Honestly," Tracy said, rolling her eyes. "Some hero _you_ are. Do mom and I have to do everything for you?"

"I guess so," Ness said, letting a smirk come to his face.

"Hopeless," Tracy muttered. "Now let's go. I don't want you passing out from exhaustion again."

"That happened once!" Ness protested. "Besides, I got a lot done during that time."

"I said no passing out," Tracy said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Ness sighed, following Tracy through the streets of Onett. His stomach growled as the scent of fresh bread from the bakery wafted into his nose. He remembered days spent hanging out in Onett, whittling hours away by playing in the arcade and eating pastries from the bakery. How appealing that seemed to him right now… Cars drove by, honking their horns for god knows what reason. Even though Onett hadn't grown bigger, it had grown _louder_. Ness was grateful to escape the clutches of steel automobiles and concrete sidewalks as he walked north of the city. As he passed the library, a pair of girls walked up to him. Ness held his breath.

 _Please don't be…_

"Hey," one of the girls said. "Are you like… Ness? You know, the hero?"

 _Sigh,_ Ness thought, not actually bothering to sigh.

"Yep," Ness said. "That's me."

"Whoa; no way!" The other girl exclaimed. "That's like, totally rad and stuff."

"…"

"Who's that chick with you?" the first girl asked.

 _…Double sigh,_ Ness thought.

"I'm Tracy. You know, Ness' _brother?_ "

"Dude," the first girl said. "Chill. I didn't mean…"

"I'm not a dude," Tracy muttered.

"Wow!" the second girl exclaimed, interrupting the flow of the conversation. "I can't believe that I get to meet Ness in person!"

"Yeah," the first girl said. "Dude, Ness… can we, like, get your number? We should totally hang out!"

"No thanks," Ness said.

"Please?" The second girl asked. "We both think that you're _super_ cool."

 _Does it look like I care?_ Ness thought. _Because I don't._

"Sorry, but no," Ness repeated.

"Aw man!" the first girl said. "Can we at least hang out right now? I have some friends who are _dying_ to meet you, and some of them are hot chicks."

"I said no," Ness said. "Sorry."

"Aw, dude… what are we going to tell our friends?"

"That I'm a jerk and I'm too stuck-up to want to meet them," Ness replied. "Let's go, Tracy."

Ness lead Tracy away, allowing his muscles to relax. Why did he hate incidents like that more than feeling a spider's poison drain his life away?

"Wow," Tracy said once they were far enough away that the other girls couldn't hear. "That was cold, even for you. Were they not pretty enough?"

Ness shot Tracy a flat look.

"Yeah," he said. "Because I _totally_ judged them based on appearance. It was how they looked that was the problem, not the fact that they wanted to show me off to their friends like a trophy."

"Everyone judges by appearance," Tracy said. "If they were prettier…"

"I hardly noticed how they looked," Ness said. "I really don't care, Tracy. Or if I do, I try my hardest to ignore it."

"I'm teasing," Tracy said. "Sorta. You know how dumb boys your age can be when it comes to girls. But still, I could feel the temperature around you drop five degrees when you talked to them."

"Five degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius?" Ness asked.

"Kelvin," Tracy answered.

"Hilarious," Ness said flatly. "I guess that I _was_ a little blunt with them… I just get annoyed when people see me as a hero rather than a person. I don't want to be remembered for killing Giygas. I don't want to be remembered for having PSI. I want to be remembered as a kind, thoughtful person."

"Well, you have a _lot_ of work to do on that last part," Tracy said with a snort.

"Tracy!"

"Kidding, kidding! I guess that I can relate. I hate it whenever people ask 'what's it like, being the sister of a hero?' I always tell them 'It's annoying because people always ask me what it's like to be his sister.' That shuts them up."

Ness cracked a smile.

"Because it's annoying when people judge you based on your relation to someone else, right? You want them to see them as _you,_ but they just see you as an extension of me. That's how I feel, except people think about me as an extension of Giygas. Nobody can think about me without considering Giygas as well."

"Yep, it's _so_ hard being us," Tracy said sarcastically. "At least we still have people around us who see us for who we really are, right? I think that I'd go crazy without Mom."

By now, they had arrived at their house. Ness opened the door and walked in.

"Yeah," Ness said. "I feel like I can truly relax around her. I don't have to be a hero; I can just be _me._ "

"Which is why I want us to become close again," Tracy said. "You might not have realized it until now, but I think that our situations are pretty similar."

 _That's true,_ Ness thought. _I guess that I should make efforts to reach out to Tracy more… or at least accept her affection for what it is._

"I'll try," Ness said. "But… I don't know. It's still hard for me to talk with people who haven't seen what I have. Maybe Paula will be able to help me with that."

"Ah, right," Tracy said. "Talk to your _girlfriend_ about it."

"Paula and I aren't dating, Tracy!"

"Calm down," Tracy said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I was only teasing. But seriously, you basically are dating. You spend enough time at Paula's bedroom that I wonder just what you're doing in there…"

Ness felt his cheeks redden. Nothing like _that_ was happening.

"Let's stop the conversation there," he said. "I'm going to visit Paula, who is my _friend._ I need to talk to her about my meeting with Pirkle. After that, I'll see if I can make time to play a game with you or something."

"You'll see if you can make time?" Tracy asked. "That's pretty noncommittal. Paula's not going to like that once you two start dating."

"Would you mind never talking about dating ever again?" Ness asked.

"Sure," Tracy said. "So when are you and Paula getting _married?_ "

 _My god…_ Ness thought.

"Ness!" his mom called, walking down the stairs. "You never ate lunch today, and it's already four!"

"It's not _that_ bad to skip a meal every now and then," Ness said with a shrug.

"Well, you didn't eat breakfast today, either. I understand that I shouldn't force you to do everything, but your body really needs food to function, sweetie. I do worry about how hard you work yourself."

Ness nodded along, secretly grateful to have an excuse not to listen to Tracy any longer.

"Now," his mom said. "Would you like some steak?"

Ness perked up at that.

"Just like a dog," Tracy said, shaking her head. "Any sign of meat and you can't get it out of your mind until you devour it."

Ness was too busy thinking about steak to respond.

(ILH)

Ness walked through the streets of Twoson about an hour later, trying to focus on the relaxing scenery. Butterflies flew around in fields, occasionally landing on flowers to drink nectar.

 _So free,_ Ness thought. _I used to be like that. I just went along with my daily life. It wasn't something that I had to force myself to do every day; I just did it. Even though I was mostly playing with Tracy and visiting the arcade, I was content. That counts for something, doesn't it?_

Ness walked up and knelt down next to a butterfly that was standing on a flower. The insect flew towards Ness and landed on his arm. It walked onto Ness' hand, tickling his skin. Why did that make him so happy?

 _I could squish this little insect if I wanted to,_ Ness thought, _But it isn't scared. It exists in a state of oblivion. Yet… it's happy and free._

 _…_

 _I feel like there's a lesson in that._

The butterfly flew away after a few seconds, leaving Ness with a renewed source of energy. He passed the boisterous sounds of the Chaos Theater and the poorly concealed atmosphere of unease in Burghlin Park, not letting either one faze him. Eventually, Ness arrived at his destination:

Polestar Preschool.

Ness didn't even bother knocking before he went in. He knew the Polestars so well that they viewed him as family. Upon opening the door and walking in, a dozen pairs of eyes from below locked onto him. Ness smiled as the preschoolers stared at him, taking in the smell of play-dough and crayons.

"Look," a girl said, pointing at Ness. She looked about four, maybe five. "Paula's boyfriend."

 _How does she even know what "boyfriend" means?"_ Ness thought.

"You the hero?" a boy stuttered, looking up at Ness in awe. "You save us from bad guys?"

"Yeah," Ness said. "I did."

The children took that fact in with wide eyes.

"Hey, Ness," Paula said, walking up to him. Ness noted the fresh paint stain on her jeans. "Why are you here?"

"I want to talk to you about a few things," Ness said. "Is it possible to go somewhere private?"

"No, not really," Paula answered. "Mom and dad are out, so I have to take care of the kids. Sorry."

"No problem," Ness said. "Can we… just kind of talk here?"

"Sure," Paula said. Turning to the kids and adopting a mother-like tone, "Ness is going to stay here for a few minutes. You can go back to playing with your toys."

It didn't take long for the children to follow Paula's request.

"So what's on your mind, Ness?" Paula asked.

"I don't know where to start," he said, not sure if he should _really_ unload all of his problems on Paula. "I… is it okay if I just rant about whatever?"

"Sure," Paula said. "I'm here to help, and your 'rants' are usually pretty mild."

Those words sent a warm feeling through Ness' heart. Paula possessed immaculate skill with PSI and defeated Giygas, but she was so much more than just Ness' savior. She was kind, understanding, and willing to put down anything that she was doing to help him. Ness only wished that he could give something back.

"I just feel like I should be happier than I am," Ness said. "I mean, I'm surrounded by wonderful people like you and I've already accomplished more than most people do in their entire lives, but all I can think about is the stress in my life. Wow, that already sounds really whiny. Sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry!" Paula exclaimed with a light laugh. "We've had this discussion before, Ness. I really don't mind if something that you say comes off as whiny. Your problems are important no matter what, and I'll try to help you whenever you need me. Besides, you aren't _that_ bad."

 _Her eyes are so sincere,_ Ness thought. _Why can't I be more like her? Why can't I be the pillar for others to lean on?_

"Thanks" Ness said. "That really means a lot to me."

"No problem!" Paula exclaimed, pausing to take a quick look around the room. "…Sorry about that. I need to make sure that these kids aren't destroying anything _._ I totally get what you mean, though. During those months when we travelled around the world and fought Giygas' minions, our adventure was all we knew. We couldn't afford to think about the future because the present was about to crush us. Now that we can see what's in store for us… well, that's where we start to branch off."

"What do you mean?" Ness asked, smiling as a couple of preschoolers zipped right past him, carrying toy planes.

"I've been talking with Jeff recently," she said, "And he's doing better than ever. I've told him before on how I think that his dad is a bad parent, but Jeff seems to enjoy working with him. I know that Jeff is trying to make the next technological breakthrough. Me, on the other hand… I just like working with little kids, so I'm doing what I always have been." Paula gestured towards the messy room around her. "For me, this is heaven, watching these kids run around and play. So what about you, Ness? What do you want to do with the rest of your life?"

"I don't know," Ness said, looking down to the floor. "I feel like I _should_ know, but…"

"I get what you mean," Paula said. "A lot of people are like that. Poo said that he doesn't want to be the king of Dalaam and actually likes our culture better."

"No way!" Ness exclaimed. "Everyone in Dalaam is so nice."

"…I think the word that you're looking for is _polite,_ " Paula said. "Because according to Poo, people in Dalaam can get pretty ruthless when they're allowed to. Dalaamian society places harsh penalties on acting out in public, so people tend to be overly gracious as a precaution. The point is that both of you struggle with what path you want to choose for yourselves."

"Yeah," Ness said with a sigh. "I just wish that I could figure out what I want to do on my own, though. Everyone keeps bugging me. Everyone _wants_ something from me."

"Did Pirkle ask you to endorse his campaign again?" Paula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Ness said. "He's gotten smarter. He wants me to deliver a speech to inspire the people of Onett, since we're in an economic recession right now."

"Ah," Paula said. "Because that would indirectly make more people want to vote for him. Angry voters usually don't support the incumbent."

"Exactly," Ness said. "So I don't want to help Pirkle's campaign, but I _do_ want to help the people of Onett. I don't know what I should do. And then there's my relationship with Tracy… we used to be really close, but she pointed out today that I've been growing more distant. It's just… hard for me to connect with someone who hasn't gone through what I have, you know?"

Right as Ness finished his complaining, a girl started crying in the corner of the room.

"Just a sec," Paula said, walking over to the girl.

Ness waited patiently, trying to immerse himself in the preschool atmosphere. For some reason, he just couldn't see them in the same light that Paula did. Sure, a smile came to his lips when the kids were so excited about a game that they were playing that they started running around the room for no apparent reason, but Ness didn't feel the urge to take care of these children. He just didn't want to be the person in charge.

Paula walked back up to Ness, interrupting his thoughts.

"Sorry about that," she said. "She wanted to play with a toy, but someone else grabbed it first. I talked to both of them and they agreed to take turns with it."

"I'm surprised that you got them to negotiate," Ness said.

"I always try to make deals with these kids," Paula said with a shrug. "Either that or get them to work a problem out on their own. Because if they only do something just because I tell them to, then what happens when they grow up and I'm not there to enforce the rules anymore?"

"…That's a good point," Ness said.

"A lot of adults don't know how to compromise, so I want to teach it to these kids early so that it feels natural when they grow up," Paula said. "But I see what you're talking about with Pirkle and Tracy."

Paula opened up her hand, revealing a plastic wind-up toy in the same model as the one in Pirkle's office.

"Let's use this toy as a metaphor, all right?" Paula said. "This is what society views us as. To them, we're more like a tool than actual human beings. After all, we're _heroes._ We can't _possibly_ be the same as them, right?"

Ness nodded.

"So if they pressure you…" Paula said, winding up the toy in her hands. "If they put enough stress on you to get you all... _wound up,_ then they think that you'll do what they tell you to."

Paula released the toy. It walked forward on her palm, falling to the floor after a couple of steps.

"And you know what?" Paula continued. "They're probably right. Right now, you'll do anything that the people want if they complain to you enough."

Paula looked into Ness' eyes.

"The authorities want you to behave that way, Ness," she said. "They want you in a state where you can be controlled."

"…Pirkle had one of those toys," Ness said, raising his voice to be heard over the chatter of the preschoolers. "He made it walk off the table. I thought that he was referring to his constituents, how he would lead them into danger and save them at the last second."

"I think that it was a metaphor for you, Ness," Paula said. "He's trying to wind you up with guilt, stress, and shame. That way, you'll do whatever he says, even if you don't want to."

"So are you saying that I should resist him?" Ness asked.

"I'm saying that you shouldn't let Pirkle get to you," Paula said. "Give the speech about the economic recession or don't; it's your choice. But no matter what you do, don't do it because of Pirkle. Do it because of _you._ "

"Easier said than done," Ness muttered.

"It is," Paula said. "But in the end, it's not as hard as you might think. Just ask yourself what you want to do. Do you want to give the speech or not? It's that simple. Of course, there are times when you need to compromise, but I don't think that this is one of them."

"…But there are things more important than what I want to do," Ness said.

"Are there really?" Paula asked. "I mean, we're both dangerous wilders, right? Self-taught psychics with no professional training. At this state, we pose more of a threat to society than pretty much anything else. Wouldn't it be best just to… disappear into the woods?"

That question tugged at Ness' heart. He had thought of doing just that more often than he liked to admit.

"Yeah," Ness said. "I guess we should."

"And yet we're still here," Paula said. "It's because we _want_ to, Ness. Trust me, you'll do so much more for this world if you follow your passion. You just have to find what that is, and it starts with whether you want to give a speech to the people of Onett or not. There's no shame either way."

"I get what you're saying," Ness said, releasing a sigh. "But it just seems too good to be true. It feels like life can't _possibly_ be that simple."

"I understand what you mean," Paula said. "That feeling is something that you'll have to work that out yourself. But don't you want to at least try following your heart to see where it takes you?"

"I guess so," Ness said. "It's not like I have a lot to lose… Do what I want and I won't get wound up like that toy, huh? Right now… I guess I just want to be a better brother to Tracy."

"That's a good place to start," Paula said. "So long as you keep putting in effort, I'm sure that she'll appreciate it!"

"Yeah," Ness said. He took a deep breath of air and found the motion strangely soothing. It felt like Paula was delicately unwinding him. "Yeah, I think that I'll head back to my house and see if I can do something with Tracy right now. I think that it will take a long time to reforge our relationship, but that's all the more reason to start now. Thanks, Paula!"

"You're welcome!" she said.

Ness smiled. For some reason, the world felt so _right._ Even when Ness moaned and complained, Paula was there for him. IAs Ness was about to walk out of the Polestar Preschool, he turned back.

"Are you going to ask me if I'm going to give the speech about the recession?" he asked Paula.

"No," she said. "You can tell me if you want to, but I don't need to know. I know that you'll make the right decision."

Trust. It felt so good to be trusted. Ness smiled again.

"I guess you have _some_ confidence in me, huh?" Ness asked.

"More than you know," Paula replied with a wink.

"W-What's that wink for?" Ness asked, feeling his cheeks turn red.

"Nothing," Paula said with a laugh. Another cry sounded in the preschool. "Oh, looks like I need to break up another fight. See you later, Ness."

"Uh, goodbye," Ness said, walking out and closing the door behind him.

Once outside, Ness shook his head. Why did he always have to be so awkward around Paula?

 _I guess it doesn't really matter,_ Ness thought. _I don't mind being the awkward one, honestly. I guess that I'll just focus on my relationship with Tracy for now._

Ness looked out onto the horizon. Since Earth was approaching the winter solstice, the sun was already setting even though it couldn't have been much later than five in the afternoon. Ness looked at the sunset as he made his way back through Twoson.

 _Well,_ he thought. _Another day has come and gone. Tonight, the sun sets on all of my stresses and worries._

 _I can't wait to see what kind of person I'll be tomorrow._


End file.
